Aircraft advertising banner



Oct. 12, 1937.,

F. w. SOULE AIRCRAFT ADVERTISING BANNER Filed July 16, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet l Oct. 12, 1937. F. w. SOULE AIRCRAFT ADVERTISING BANNER Filed July 16, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IZZZE 3m entor Gttomeg Patented Oct. 12, 1937 UNITED STATES PATET OFFICE 11 Claims.

This invention pertains to advertising and particularly to advertising by means of an autogiro or aircraft.

This device is constructed so as to be towed by an aircraft while in flight and will derive its power from the same as it is intended to have this sign construction illuminated so as to be visible while flying at night.

It is, therefore, an object of my invention to have the sign towed by an airplane, and illuminated through power carried by the airplane.

Another object of my invention is to provide means by which, when used for night flying, the formation of the letters alone can be seen, the support and background for the letters not being apparent.

A further object is to provide means for rigidly supporting and stabilizing the letters in such a position that they may be seen by persons onthe ground.

A still. further object is to provide separable connecting means for the letter and word units and yet insure perfect alignment when assembled.

Still another object of my invention is to provide means for rigidly securing the lights on the base support and to provide protective means for the bulbs when the banner is released on the ground.

Another and still further object is to provide 'meansfor quick release of the apparatus from the aircraft in case necessity demands it.

With these and various other objects in view, the invention may consist of certain novel features of construction and operation as will be more fully described and particularly pointed out in the specification, drawings and claims appended hereto.

In thedrawings, which illustrate an embodiment' of the device, and wherein like reference characters are used to designate like parts,-

Figure l is an elevation of my apparatus being towed by an aircraft.

' Figure 2 is an elevation of one of 'the letter .units showing the electric connections in parallel.

Figure 3 is an elevation of one of the letter units showing the electric connections in series.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary section of the bulb and bulb attaching means.

Figure '5 is a fragmentary plan view of the same.

Figure 6 is a sectional detail of the preferred form of fastener, and

Figure '7 is a sectional fastener- Referring particularly to Figure 1, l0 indicates detail of another form of the electric tow cable from the aircraft which is connected to the source of power on the aircraft. While any well known means may be I employed for the connection of the banner wires and tow stringers to the electric tow cable, I have shown the tow stringers connected by means of a ring l2 and the banner wires by means of a suitable slip connection M and IS, the slip connection it being clamped over the main electric tow cable at I8.

In case more than one row of signs is to be used, the common stringer 2D is of sufficient length to join the rows of signs rigidly together. Leading at right angles to the common stringer 20 are a plurality of stringers 22, which are connected at suitable intervals from the common stringer 20, the opposite ends of which are connected to another common stringer 24, and parallel to the first common stringer 2%. It is obvious that each letter unit is a repetition of this construction. The purpose of this construction is to provide a suitable background webbing 26.

Securely attached to this webbing 26 is a fabric 28 made of proper canvas silk and formed in the shape of the desired letter. I have attached the light bulbs 30 to the canvas silk fabric 28 in the following manner. The light sockets 32 have apertures in the base plate 3A which are in alignment with similar apertures in the fabric. Hollow rivets 36 are then forced into position and securely hold the light sockets firmly and rigidly to the fabric. The light bulbs and sockets are then arranged on the fabric 28 so as to form the shape of the desired letter as suggested by the formation of the particular piece of fabric. It is also feasible to, have the fabric made in a continuous sheet. The lights on each letter may be arranged in parallel or in series and the wires 38 can be inserted through the hollow rivets 36 to be connected to the adjoining light.

Each letter unit is provided with separable fasteners MI on theends of each stringer 22. These fasteners 40 may be of the slip type fastener or they canbe of the types shown in Figures 6 and '7. The fasteners 40, as shownin Fig. 6, are adapted to receive the ends of a stringer from the next letter unit and be secured thereto as by a pin 42. The modification shown in Fig. '7 utilizes a D ring and spring fastener 62 for securing the stringers 22 of ea-ch'letter unit. Either construction permits of easy connection or removal.

Leading from the main electric tow cable it] are power wires 46 which are carried by the lower tow stringers 48 and 50, these stringers being integrally secured to the common stringer in any well known manner. The power wires are wrapped around the stringers 48 and 50 although they may be in the form of a conduit thus eliminating the stringers. The wrappings in Fig. l have been broken away. In the banner end of the power lines, are connections 52 and each letter unit is provided with a power conduit 44 and similar connection 52 so that a continuous power line extends the length of the banner. The individual conduits 44 are supported on the bottom of each webbing and letter unit as at 54. The light wires 38 from each unit of lights are connected to the power wires, and each light is provided with a shield 56 to protect the bulb when the banner strikes the ground. Resistor units 39, as shown in Fig. 2, may be used between the light wires 38 and the power wires 44 and 48.

Pairs of aero-dynamic resistance units 58 are provided on stringers 69 leading from the last letter unit to facilitate the stability of the banner so that they are carried to be readable from the ground.

It is to be noticed that I have shown two types of letter formation, the ones in the upper row in Fig. 1 show the fabric is formed in the shape of the letter itself, while the lower row shows the fabric which is secured to the webbing formed in the shape of a square or rectangle.

It is to be understood that I do not wish to be limited to the exact embodiment of the device shown, which is merely by way of illustration and not limitation, as various and other forms of the device will of course be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the claims.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In an aircraft advertising apparatus, an aircraft, towing means and power means carried thereby and an illuminated banner carried by said towing means, said banner including letter unit supporting means, said means comprising a common stringer secured to said towing means, a letter unit supported on and secured to Said common stringer, means for securing a plurality of letter units in succession to said first named letter unit and arranged parallel thereto, said letter units comprising a webbing and illumination supporting means secured thereon, means for illuminating said banner including light bulbs and individual power lines carried by each letter unit and adapted to be connected to said power means, and means for releasably connecting both the letter units and the individual power lines, said bulb supporting means comprising a fabric formed in the shape of the desired letter and secured to said webbing, and a plurality of light bulbs permanently secured to said fabric and arranged to form the desired letter.

2. In an aircraft advertising apparatus, an aircraft, towing means and power means carried thereby, and an illuminatedbanner carried by said towing means, said banner including letter unit supporting means, said means comprising a common stringer secured to said towing means, a letter unit supported on and secured to said common stringer, means for securing a plurality of letter units in succession to said first named letter unit and arranged parallel thereto, said letter units comprising a webbing and illumination supporting means secured thereon, means forillumi 'nating said banner including light bulbs and individual power lines carried by each letter unit and adapted to be connected to said power means, and means for releasably connecting both the letter units and the individual power lines, said bulb supporting means comprising a fabric of rectangular or square formation and secured to said webbing and adapted to have a plurality of light bulbs secured thereto and arranged to form the desired letter.

3. In an aircraft advertising apparatus, an aircraft, towing means and power means carried thereby, and an illuminated banner carried by said towing means, said banner including letter unit supporting means, said means comprising a common stringer secured to said towing means, a letter unit supported on and secured to said common stringer, means for securing a plurality of letter units in succession to said first named letter unit and arranged parallel thereto, said letter units comprising a webbing and illumination supporting means secured thereon, means for illuminating said banner including light bulbs and individual power lines carried by each letter unit and adapted to be connected to said power means, and means for releasably connecting both the letter units and the individual power lines, said bulb supporting means comprising a fabric of rectangular or square formation and secured to said webbing and adapted to have a plurality of light bulbs secured thereto and arranged to form the desired letter, means for stabilizing the banner in the air including a plurality of aerodynamic resistance units secured adjacent the ends of said banner.

4. In an aircraft advertising apparatus, an aircraft, towing means and power means carried thereby, and an illuminated banner carried by said towing means, said banner including letter unit supporting means, said means comprising a common stringer secured to said towing means, a letter unit supported on and secured to said common stringer, means for securing a plurality of letter units in succession to said first named letter unit and arranged parallel thereto, said letter units comprising a webbing and illumination supporting means secured thereon, means for illuminating said banner including light bulbs and individual power lines carried by each letter unit and connected to said power means, and means for releasably connecting both the letter units and the individual power lines, said bulb supporting means comprising a fabric of rectangular or square formation and secured to said webbing and adapted to have a plurality of light bulbs secured thereto and arranged to form the desired letter, means for stabilizing the banner in the air including a plurality of aero-dynamic resistance units secured adjacent the ends of said banner, and means for protecting said light bulbs including a shield thereon.

5. In an illuminated aircraft advertising apparatus, an aircraft, towing means, a power cable carried by said towing means, a common stringer, a banner including a plurality of letter units secured to said common stringer, means for releasably connecting said letter units in alignment, power wires carried by each of said letter units and releasably connected thereto and adapted to have cooperative relationship with said power cable, said letter units comprising a webbing, a canvas silk fabric secured to said webbing and formed in the shape of a letter, light bulbs secured to said fabric and formed in the shape of the letter.

6. In an illuminated aircraft advertising apparatus, an aircraft, towing means, a power cable carried bysaid towing means, a common stringer, a banner including a plurality of letter units secured to said common stringer, means for releasably connecting said letter units in alignment, power wires carried by each of said letter units and releasably connected thereto and adapted to having cooperative relationship with said power cable, said letter units comprising a webbing, a canvas silk fabric of rectangular or square formation, light bulbs secured to said fabric and formed in the shape of the letter, stabilizing means secured adjacent the ends of said banner including a plurality of aero-dynamic resistance units.

'7. In an illuminated aircraft advertising apparatus, an aircraft, towing means, a power cable carried by said towing means, a common stringer, a banner including a plurality of letter units secured to said common stringer and in alignment with each other, means for releasably connecting said letter units in alignment, power wires carried by each of said letter units and releasably connected thereto, said letter units comprising a webbing, a canvas silk fabric secured to said webbing and-formed in the shape of a letter, light bulbs secured to said fabric and formed in the shape of the letter, and means for releasing said banner from said aircraft.

8. In an illuminated aircraft advertising apparatus, an aircraft, towing means, a power cable carried by said towing means, a common stringer, a banner including a plurality of letter units secured to said common stringer and in alignment with each other, means for releasably connecting said letter units in alignment, power wirescarried by each of said letter units and releasably connected thereto, said letter units comprising a webbing, a canvas silk fabric secured to said webbing and formed in the shape of a letter, light bulbs secured to saidfabric and formed inthe shape of the letter, means for releasing said banner from said aircraft and means for protecting the light bulbs when the banner is released comprising a shield of suitable material secured to said light bulbs and adapted to enclose the same.

9. In an illuminated aircraft advertising apparatus, an aircraft, towing means, a power cable carried by said towing means, a common stringer, two or more units of'webbings carried by said common stringer, each webbing unit including rows of parallel stringers having vertical stringers attached adjacent their ends, separable fasteners secured to said ends and adapted to engage and secure the next succeeding webbing unit, a fabric secured to each webbing unit and formed in V the shape of a letter, light bulbs secured to said fabric and likewiseformed in the shape of a letter, means for illuminating said light bulbs including power lines carried by each of said webbing units and adapted to be releasably connected to said power cable.

10. In an illuminated air craft advertising apparatus, an aircraft, towing means, a power cable carried by said towing means, a common stringer, two or more units of webbings carried by said common stringer, each webbing unit including rows of parallel stringers having vertical stringers attached adjacent their ends, separable fasteners secured to said ends and adapted to engage and secure the next succeeding webbing unit, a fabric secured to each webbing unit and formed in the shape of a letter, light bulbs secured to said fabric and likewise formed in the shape of a letter, means for illuminating said light bulbs including power lines carried by each of said webbing units and adapted to be releasably connected to said power cable and means for releasing said banner from said aircraft.

11. In an illuminated aircraft advertising apparatus, an aircraft, towing means, a power cable carried by said towing means,-a common stringer, two or more units of webbings carried by said common stringer, each webbing unit including rows of parallel stringers having vertical stringers attached adjacent their ends, separable fasteners secured to said ends and adapted to engage and secure the next succeeding webbing unit, a fabric secured to each webbing unit and formed in the shape of a letter, light bulbs secured to said fabric and likewise formed in the shape of a letter, means for illuminating said light bulbs including power lines carried by each of said webbingunits and adapted to be releasably connected to said power cable, means for releasing said banner from said aircraft and means for protecting the light bulbs when the banner is released comprising a shield of suitable material secured to said light bulbs and adapted to enclose the same.

FRED W. SOULE. 

